Christians’ big worry is climate change
18 Jun 2015
A new ComRes poll commissioned by Tearfund asked practising Christians in the UK to identify the main social and political issues they believe the world will have to face over the next ten years. They said it would be climate change or the environment. Next came social justice, then secularism, migration and poverty. The research was released just before a mass lobby of Parliament on Wednesday calling on parliamentarians to tackle climate change. Campaigners want MPs to support a climate change agreement aimed at limiting temperature rises to two per cent of pre-industrial levels, and to work towards ending pollution from coal in the UK.
Reports-of-child-abuse-rise-sharply
18 Jun 2015
The number of recorded sexual offences against children in England and Wales has risen by a third, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). There were 31,000 offences recorded in the year up to April 2014, up 8,500 on the previous year. Figures compiled by the charity show that 85 offences were recorded by police every day, with significant rises in Scotland and Northern Ireland also. A spokesman said high-profile cases had ‘played a contributory factor’ in encouraging people to come forward. Jon Brown, from the NSPCC's sexual abuse programme, told BBC Radio 4's Today that cases in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and elsewhere had helped prompt children, young people and adults to speak about abuse that is either happening to them or has happened to them. Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead for child protection, said police now looked upon child abuse very differently but the latest figures could be still only be the tip of the iceberg.
God breaks through on a converted Welsh farm
18 Jun 2015
We’ve grown used to stories of dazzling new churches with huge followings, global media ministries and where founders and leaders become worldwide celebrities. Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts tell a different story. No glittering palace of worship here, no global media empire and no megachurch congregation. Instead, this is the story of a converted farm, high up in the bleak but beautiful hills of west Wales, where God breaks through. The Grace Outpouring is a simple story of hospitality and prayer - where all are made welcome and aware of God’s presence. There’s no story of building a congregation or even a resident community. Instead, the core vision is a scattered prayer community - the Caleb Community - pouring the grace and power of God outward into the world, rather than inward, into a church. To read the wonderful story of A House of Prayer with the Father’s Heart, click the 'more' button below.
Traditional Christian teaching could effectively be ‘criminalised’ in some settings under David Cameron’s plans for new anti-extremist banning orders, a top Anglican theologian and former parliamentary draftsman has warned. The Rev Dr Mike Ovey, a former lawyer and now principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London, a training school for Church of England clergy, said proposals for new ‘Extremism Disruption Orders’ could be a disaster area for people from all the mainstream religions and none. Mr Cameron and Theresa May have signalled that the new orders, planned as part of the Government’s Counter-Extremism Bill, would not curb the activities of radical Islamist clerics but the promotion of other views deemed to go against ‘British values’ even if it is non-violent and legal. Dr Ovey warned that unless the criteria are tightly defined, the orders could be used against almost anyone and would have chilling effect on preachers and even call into question the curriculum of colleges such as his.
Christian MP to lead 50 rebel Conservatives
18 Jun 2015
Christian MP Steve Baker warned his fellow MPs on Thursday that the current setup of the European Union will ultimately lead to Britain ‘surrendering our democracy’. He said, ahead of a proposed referendum on Britain's future membership of the EU, that he will lead a group of 50 rebel Conservative MPs calling for an exit from Europe if Prime Minister David Cameron fails to negotiate sufficient reforms. Mr Baker said he backed Mr Cameron's challenge to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership, adding, ‘There are many subjects I care about extremely deeply, but the one thing that got me into politics was the treatment of the European Union constitution and, in due course, the Lisbon treaty. I am a sinner who has repented.’ Mr Baker added that the system of free movement needs to be looked at in more detail, citing the recent ‘inhumane’ example of one of his constituents being unable to source a visa for her mother to visit her. See also THE MILL GATHERING STATEMENT at
Another Trumpet Call in two weeks
18 Jun 2015
At the first Trumpet Call in October 2004, the team at the World Prayer Centre had no idea how many times God wanted us to blow the trumpet in the heart of the nation. After each Trumpet Call, their offices received amazing, inspirational testimonies of the experience of being with thousands of Christians praying together for their nation. People were healed, and had their faith restored again to go on believing God for impossible situations. On 4 July there will be another Trumpet Call in Birmingham, where God’s people have the opportunity to stand together at the INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE to SEEK THE FACE OF GOD that He would, in response to our repentance and prayers of faith, hear our cry, have mercy and pour out His Spirit on our land. Readers of Prayer Alert are invited to come, if they are able, and pray. There’s nothing more powerful than when saints pray and seek God’s kingdom, standing in the gap for the lost.
Head teacher sets ‘digital detox’ challenge
11 Jun 2015
Smartphones and tablets are everywhere these days, including schools. In fact, one in three children between the ages of five and fifteen has their own tablet. One primary school head teacher has got so fed up with children being glued to their electronic devices that he has called for his pupils and their families to go on a ‘digital detox’. To view the two-minute BBC video of this article go to:
UK could host US nuclear missiles
11 Jun 2015
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Philip Hammond said the government would tentatively consider hosting US nuclear missiles on UK land for the first time since the height of the Cold War in light of recent developments in Russia and Eastern Europe. ‘We've got to send a clear signal to Russia that we will not allow them to transgress our red lines," he said. ‘At the same time, we have to recognise that the Russians do have a sense of being surrounded and under attack, and we don't want to make unnecessary provocations either.’ The foreign secretary's remarks were yet another sign of the declining relations between the West and Russia, now at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War.